COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to enhance your
ability to critically evaluate, review, and comment on communication
research.To accomplish this goal
students study the research process including theory building, literature
review, research design, statistical analysis, and reporting.

Readings:Your are expected to
complete the reading prior to the class period for which a chapter is indicated
on the attached calendar.Completion of
readings is essential to understanding the lecture and effectively
participating in classroom discussion.BRING YOUR TEXT TO CLASS EACH DAY.

Quizzes:Quizzes will be given over the readings,
research articles, and lectures on a random basis.Quizzes on the text material will be based on
the “Exercise” questions after each chapter.Be sure to have read the assigned material BEFORE class.No make-up quizzes will be given.

Research
Project:

You are
to choose a communication
oriented topic to investigate that must be approved in advance by me.This project consists primarily of searching
appropriate academic journal articles and finding three research articles relevant to your topic.There are three parts to this project:
article summary, article critique, and a synthesis paper.You are expected to demonstrate a command of
the appropriate APA paper writing style on ALL assignments.

Research
Article Summary: For the first of your research
articles you are to write a summary that describes the underlying concepts and
theory, the method, and the results. The
copy of the article must be submitted along with the summary.

Research
Article Critique:For the second of your
research articles you are to write a critique of the methodology and
findings.The copy of the article must
be submitted along with the critique.

Theory
Building/Synthesis Paper:You will be
required to write a paper about the topic you have chosen based upon the three
research articles.This is a challenging
activity because it requires you to use a higher level of cognitive processing
called synthesis.The articles are to melded together into a cogent discussion of your
topic.More details will be
provided.The assignment will be graded
on the basis of how well the material is synthesized and the application of
appropriate style rules for citations and references.This will be graded in person during finals
week.Copies of all three articles are
to be submitted with the paper.

Additional Assignments:There will
be additional graded assignments and activities as announced.

GRADING

The
following is an estimate of how the grading will break down for the three major
sets of assignments.The actual
breakdown will depend upon how many assignments are given from each text and
will be confirmed as the term progresses.

Points

Quizzes(~10 at 10 points each)100

Research
Article Summary20

Research
Article Critique20

Synthesis
Paper40

Additional
Assignments(~4 at 5 points each)20

Approximate
Total Points=200

The lowest number of points possible for any graded
material is 55% of the assigned points.This means missing a 10 point quiz will still net you 5 ½ points.

The following scale will be used in determining your
final grade:

100-93% = A86-83
= B76-73 = C66-63
= D

92-90= A-82-80 = B-72-70 = C-62-60 = D-

89-87= B+79-77
= C+69-67 = D+59-0 = F

Attendance:You are expected to attend all classes.You can only gain the full impact of the
course by attending class sessions since there will be frequent exercises and
activities during class; therefore, those who are diligent in their attendance
will be rewarded.After your final grade
is determined, the percentage will be adjusted on a bonus basis according to
the following: 0 absences, 1 % will be added to your grade; 1 absence, 1/2%
will be added; 2-4 absences 0%.Thus for
example, if you have 89% (B+) after all the assignments and have not missed any
classes, your percentage would be raised by 1% to 90 (A-).Grades will be lowered by 1% for each absence
after 4 (e.g., 6 absences would cause a grade of 80% (B-) to be lowered 2% to
78% (C+)).This policy is to eliminate
the need for excused absences.While I
appreciate knowing you will be absent, I do not want to make judgments about
their legitimacy.THERE ARE NO EXCUSED ABSENCES.See me immediately at the beginning of the
term if you expect to miss more than two class periods.